Countdown to flag-off of Volkswagen JK Tyre Polo Cup 2011 kicks off with 1st Round of the driver selection process

Volkswagen Motorsport India concluded the 1st round of the Volkswagen JK Tyre Polo Cup 2011 selection process and continues the countdown to the highly anticipated 2nd season of the Polo Cup India. The young racers were narrowed down to 20 drivers through adrenalin pumping go-kart selection, held at the Army sub area Sports Complex in Pune.

“The karting selection gave us a chance to test the racing skills of the applicants. The incredible amount of talent present here today is going to make the final selection process all the more difficult and I am sure the Volkswagen JK Tyre Polo Cup fans will be witness to a very exciting season ahead,” said Prithviraj Siddappa, Head of Motorsport, Volkswagen India.

The karting weekend began with a day dedicated to practice sessions. Day 2 of selections saw participants giving their best shot at scoring the best time with the karts. Each participant was given two chances to score their best time with two different karts. The selection process took place under the scrutiny of an expert jury consisting of Akbar Ebrahim, India’s only principle instructor in racing, Rayomand Banajee, six times National Champion and Rohitaaz Kumar from JK Tyre Motorsport. The final sets of drivers were chosen based on their fastest lap timings.

From almost 1600 applicants, the number was brought down to 60 after extensive screening from a panel of driver coach experts, who scrutinized the Amaron karting challenge which acted as a feeder for the Polo Cup selection.

These 60 went through Round 1 of selection which is the Go-kart selection round. From this round 20 drivers have been shortlisted.

In Coimbatore, 20 drivers will join the 40 drivers who have been selected from Amaron Karting Challenge finals where they will battle it out in the Race Polos. From this round, a total of 10 drivers will be selected.

The selected 10 drivers from Coimbatore and 10 drivers from last season of Polo Cup will be the final 20 drivers to race this season.

The inaugural season of the Volkswagen JK Tyre Polo Cup India was a grand success right from the moment the lights turned green. The 6-leg series kicked-off in a unique street race in Pune on May 30, and continued on the race tracks in Coimbatore and Chennai. The championship was a close race right up to the final chequered flag, when Sailesh Bolisetti, the 22 year from Vizag, edged out the 17 year old Parth Ghorpade to win the title of India’s first-ever Polo Cup Champion.

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